In Honour of them Photographers - 12 Aug
My quest to fill time brought me to the gates of the National Portrait Gallery today. The exhibition “Daily Encounters” was on, that depicts the rise of press photography in Britain from 1904 to 1986. It sure is astounding how we take for granted the pictures we see in the newspapers everyday. They tell us more than what is said in newspaper articles – they let us relate to the story. And the same should be said about photos we see in magazines. Even a single solitary photo has a story to tell – what then does the photographer want us to see?
A couple of things that caught my attention today:
1) 'In those early days, the press photographer was regarded as an animal almost beneath contempt' – Hannen Swaffer, introduction to James Jarche, People I Have Shot. (Almost as if photography was considered inferior to writing)
2) A photo of a newspaper boy with a Titanic headline on 16th April 1912, London.
3) During the Second World War, photos were censored by the Picture Censorship Department of the Ministry of Information. These included images depicting the destruction of British cities by German bombs, and images of British soldiers behind the lines. Frustrated, a newspaper published several blacked-out pictures with captions suggesting what they should have shown, together with one single photo of those working in the censorship department, attributing the publication of those photos to “these people”.
4) To overcome the problem above, photographer Fred Morley persuaded his assistant to dress as a milkman doing his rounds amidst a war-torn street. The censors were satisfied as it kept spirits high.
5) There was even a photo of Singapore's then PM Lee in 1965 playing golf with his son (and subsequently missing), alongside then Labour PM Harold Wilson on holiday in the Isles of Scilly. The title of the article seemed to suggest the need of a holiday for effective government. (I have forgotten the exact wording)
I am of the opinion that when the skills of a photographer reaches a certain level, of course with a trained eye, what differentiates him/her from the rest would be the depth of character. Just like an artist with a story to tell, a photographer skilfully picks a scene that depicts most the message he/she wants to bring across. The more attentive a photographer is to issues surrounding him/her, the better a story he/she has to tell.
I know there are at least two of you photographers out there who will be reading this post. What say you?
Sun Aug 12, 12:09am
